United Airlines is offering nonstop flights to Cape Town starting December 15, 2019. This is a seasonal route operating through March 2020. Pending government approval, tickets will go on sale in May. The flights will operate on the new 787-9 Dreamliner fleet from Newark.

United Airlines will start flying to Cape Town, South Africa photo credit: Getty

Getty

Although United isn’t the first airline to offer nonstop service from the United States to Cape Town, it will be the only airline at this moment. It goes without saying that this is one of the longest routes one can fly. There are plenty of frequent flier miles that can be racked up from this one trip alone.

Flight Schedule

United’s planned flight schedule is departing Newark at 8:30 pm on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. This flight arrives in Cape Town at 6:00 pm on the next calendar day.

Return flights depart Cape Town at 8:50 pm on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. They arrive in Newark at 5:45 am on the next calendar day.

Once again, seasonal nonstop service begins December 15, 2019, and operates through March 2020. This new route still requires final government approval. Once approved, United anticipates selling the initial ticket in May 2019.

Polaris Class

United plans on using their new 787-9 Dreamliner fleet for their nonstop flights to Cape Town. This fleet already serves several long-haul routes including Houston to Sydney and San Francisco to Singapore.

It initially looks like the Cape Town flights will have 48 Polaris Class seats, 88 Economy Plus, and 116 Economy seats. A SeatGuru seat map indicates the Polaris seats will have the current 2-2-2 configuration. However, a redesigned 787-9 fleet will begin rolling out in late 2019. Once tickets go on sale, browsing future dates can mean flying on the newly designed fleet which will provide a better experience for Polaris and Economy Plus passengers.

By flying Polaris Class, travelers can also visit the United Polaris Lounge at Newark before takeoff.

When planning to fly this exciting new route, don’t forget to use the Chase Sapphire Preferred or United Explorer Card both of which offer the ability to earn 60,000 bonus points. New cardmembers can earn the 60k on the Chase Sapphire Preferred by spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.

New United Explorer cardholders can earn 40,000 miles after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months of account opening. They’ll earn an additional 20,000 miles after spending $8,000 total on purchases within 6 months of account opening. This can be enough points to help book the first leg of the journey or even upgrade into a premium cabin.

Summary

Although it’s only a seasonal route, United’s nonstop flights to Cape Town will operate from Newark between December 15, 2019, and March 2020. This can be the perfect opportunity to visit one of Africa’s largest and most scenic cities. Since it’s one of the commercial air’s longest nonstop routes, flying to Cape Town can also be an ideal time to book a premium Polaris Class seat or Economy Plus.

The grounding of its Boeing 737 Max jets is causing United Airlines to trim growth plans for this year, and the carrier expects to discuss potential compensation with Boeing.

Chicago-based United claims to be managing the grounding relatively well by pressing spare jets into duty and delaying discretionary maintenance work on other planes.

That approach, however, comes with extra costs — sometimes the airline uses bigger and less fuel-efficient two-aisle jets to replace the missing single-aisle Max on domestic routes.

United has 14 Max planes in its fleet, and airline executives said Wednesday they don’t expect those jets back before July. They said some of the 16 additional Max jets they expected to get this year might be delayed.

United Airlines revealed on April 16 it would extend a suspension on all flights using a controversial aircraft.

The airline will cancel all routes that would normally be flown with the Boeing 737 Max until at least July to give the carrier time to address a variety of safety concerns that allegedly caused two planes to crash in Ethiopia and the Java Sea in Indonesia, killing 346 passengers and crew members in the process.

Boeing rushed the 737 MAX 8 through certification in a race to keep up with its biggest rival, Airbus. It’s had devastating consequences. pic.twitter.com/zSwkMDnnMc

— Vox (@voxdotcom) April 16, 2019

The airline’s earlier ban on its 14 Max planes was originally intended to end on June 5. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have also recently grounded exactly the same model.

Southwest Airlines plans for a summer without the 737 Max https://t.co/ferBlnmgMh pic.twitter.com/dpDd7SRJci

— CNN Business (@CNNBusiness) April 12, 2019

In its first quarter financial results, United confirmed it had already received delivery of “four Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft (prior to the March 13, 2019 Federal Aviation Administration order grounding U.S.-registered 737 Max aircraft) and four Boeing 787—10 aircraft.”

The company had hoped to use the spare aircraft to offer more seats for passengers ahead of the busy summer vacation period.

“Moving forward, we’ll continue to monitor the regulatory process and nimbly make the necessary adjustments to our operation and our schedule to benefit our customers who are traveling this summer,” a spokesman for United told CNBC.

Despite the setback caused by the Maxes being grounded, United Airlines Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz is still upbeat about the rest of the year and thanked all United staff.

“We are more confident than ever that we’ll reach our long-term adjusted earnings per share targets we unveiled last year,” he said in a public statement. “I want to thank all 93,000 of our employees for their incredible work as we overcame some unique challenges.”

United expects a $292 million net income for the first quarter of the year, which was off the back of a 7.1 percent jump in total passenger revenue compared to the same period in 2018.

In addition, the company’s benchmark passenger revenue per available seat mile for the same period rose 1.1 percent compared to the previous year.

“We made important progress on our customer investments while making strategic decisions to manage our costs and producing pre-tax margin growth that we expect will lead our peers,” Munoz said.

U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged the challenges the aviation industry has faced following the Max disasters, and encouraged the industry to take the opportunity to reinvent the brand.

“No product has suffered like this one,” Trump said in a Twitter post dated April 15. “If I were Boeing, I would fix the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features and rebrand the plane with a new name.”

What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!), but if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, REBRAND the plane with a new name.
No product has suffered like this one. But again, what the hell do I know?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2019

If Boeing decides to follow Trump’s advice, there would be additional costs involved with rebranding the aircraft that would be passed on to airlines and finally the customer. The money would be used to comprehensively retrain pilots, while the updated model would involve less intense additional training.

Boeing is still finalizing its software upgrades for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, which will need to be submitted to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before the 737 Max grounding order can be lifted.

Boeing 737 MAX software upgrade ‘operationally suitable’: FAA panel https://t.co/ZHHhfAbPjA pic.twitter.com/sKSxreyXtf

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 17, 2019

The FAA is holding talks with representatives from United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines about the next steps. More than 300 Maxes have been grounded across the world.

The longer Boeing’s 737 MAX is grounded, the stronger the outlook for Airbus https://t.co/6MsjmZXikL

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) April 13, 2019

United Airlines said Tuesday that its first-quarter profit doubled to $292 million as it carried more passengers and limited costs other than fuel.

The results beat Wall Street expectations for a quarter that began with the partial government shutdown, which dinged travel by federal employees, and ended with Boeing 737 Max jets grounded around the world.

The airline gave an upbeat forecast of second-quarter revenue trends. However, Chicago-based United did not raise its full-year earnings prediction.

Executives of parent United Continental Holdings are scheduled to talk about the results with analysts and reporters on Wednesday. In a message to employees, CEO Oscar Munoz said the latest results vindicated a strategy of adding more flights, investing in customer service and managing costs.

Whether we like it or not — and we don’t, particularly — selling off naming rights to corporations has become a fairly common strategy for financing the construction of public sports venues without putting the full burden on taxpayers or the sports team. Typically, the deal is struck before the venue is built, so that fans get used to the idea of, say, the Banc of California Stadium (built on the former site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena) from the start. It’s an international phenomenon as well. You think United Airlines Memorial Coliseum sounds funny? Try the Mitsubishi Forklift Stadion, a stadium in the Netherlands.

(WTNH) – United Airlines has extended its cancelling of all 737 Max flights through early July.

Last month, the FAA ordered all of those planes grounded after two deadly crashes overseas killed 346 people.

Related: American Airlines to keep entire fleet of 737 Max jets grounded until mid-August

United Airlines says it has used spare aircraft and other creative solutions since March to help minimize the impact on customers.
    

Three of the largest U.S. airlines have extended their suspension of flights involving the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, indicating no resolution may be expected soon for the flight-control software problem on those jets. Southwest Airlines moved first in this direction, cancelling operations with its 31 737 MAX jets through August 5. United Airlines cancelled flights involving its 14 737 MAX jets through early July, while American cancelled flights on its 24 737 MAX aircraft through mid-August.

Last week Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg reported the OEM has completed 96 test flights of the 737 MAX with an updated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) software, testing different in-flight scenarios to correct the causes of two 737 MAX crashes.

Muilenburg did not indicate any schedule for implementing the updated control software, though it’s been reported that the revised programming would be submitted for review by the Federal Aviation Administration, European Air Safety Administration, and other major regulatory  by mid-month.

The “anti-stall” software cited as causing the crashes was developed to off-set the effect of more fuel-efficient engines adopted for the new version of the 737, but which because of their larger size alter the planes’ aerodynamic behavior. The MCAS software apparently responded to inaccurate flight data and sent the two planes into nose dives that the crews were unable to reverse.

Boeing already has halted all 737 MAX deliveries and cut the production rate on all 737 aircraft by 20%, as it diverts resources to correct the cause of two fatal crashes of 737 MAX jets in the past six months.

The FAA and other major regulatory agencies last month suspended all 737 MAX flights, making the carriers’ decisions to cancel flights procedural. However, by extending the cancellations United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines are indicating no resolution may be expected for months, rather than weeks, and so they are revising their reservation systems and other resources accordingly.

A total of 346 passengers and crew members were killed in crashes of a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is seen in Los Angeles on July 30, 2015. (Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is seen in Los Angeles on July 30, 2015. (Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard took to the stage at a Hawthorne community center Saturday to mobilize more veterans against a $69-million deal to let United Airlines put its name on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — and to pitch a compromise.

“Removing ‘Los Angeles’ and replacing it with a corporate sponsor’s name is an insult to the veterans the Coliseum was built to honor,” Hahn told more than 100 people in the Hawthorne Memorial Center auditorium. “The Coliseum is hallowed ground. It should not be a marquee for sale.”

The appearance by Hahn and Rep. Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who is vying for the 2020 presidential nomination, came two weeks after United Airlines threatened to back out of the agreement with USC that has outraged critics including veterans groups and political leaders.

In an interview, Hahn said that a compromise she suggested, in which the field was renamed but the stadium retained its historic title, was gaining traction “in ongoing discussions among members of the Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission,” which oversees the structure.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

At United, our aircraft routers, with support of Tech Ops and network teams were able to protect our customers’ original itineraries by using other aircraft to cover almost all of the MAX flights, including creative solutions like flying 777s and 787s on several MAX routes. That costs us money in the short term, since we obviously can’t sell all of those extra last-minute seats, but it was the right thing to do to take care of our customers. 

Unfortunately for Collins, unknown to him at the time, the window in his hotel room wasn’t made of privacy glass. Thus, he was visible, in all his naked glory, to people standing in one of the terminals at the Denver airport.